As part of the Sagarmala programme, Cochin Port has been making sustained efforts to promote coastal shipping. This has resulted in yet another positive outcome with the arrival of a consignment of 4,732 tonnes of rice in 182 containers at the port’s Vallarpadam ICTT on November 10, 2018 in a containership named SSL Kochi.
The consignment was of Food Corporation of India (FCI) for public distribution in Kerala. It was shipped from Kakinada Port and arrived at Cochin Port via Krishnapatnam. Until recently, FCI was bringing rice predominantly by rail. This modal shift to coastal shipping has proved cost-effective for the company, and it is expected that 10,000 tonnes of rice per month will be brought to Kerala from Andhra Pradesh in the coming days.
On this occasion, Dr (Ms) M. Beena, IAS, Chairperson of Cochin Port Trust, thanked FCI and the carrier Avana Logistek Ltd for facilitating this movement. She said that efforts are on to bring wheat on account of FCI from Punjab/Haryana to Kerala using coastal shipping, which, besides giving additional volumes to the port, will be cost-effective for the public distribution giant.
